Northcentral University

ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER RESOURCE HIGHLIGHT: GROUP SESSIONS Written by Ashley Babcock, EdD Associate Director, Academic Success Center What: Group sessions are dynamic, flexible 45-minute sessions that happen with a coach and up to six students. These sessions focus on skill development: the coach finds out students' specific needs, teaches to those needs, and provides students opportunities to practice that skill. Why: In these group sessions, students can learn about specific approaches that can be used to master a skill (such as a funnel approach for a problem statement) and then students can get feedback when practicing these approaches. The group format allows for interaction with peers, which is important in an online program. Group sessions also allow students to hear/see several ways to use the skills being taught. How: Click on the "Coaching Scheduler" button on the ASC homepage or go directly to https://ncu.mywconline.com/ to sign up for coaching. Students can self-schedule for any of the group sessions. When: Currently, the ASC provides the following group sessions at least once per week: scholarly writing, paragraph development, introductions and thesis statements, paraphrasing, synthesis/analysis, problem statements, purpose statements, theory/conceptual framework, writing qualitative analysis, writing quantitative analysis, writing qualitative methodology, writing quantitative methodology, and SPSS skills. Please use the calendar on the ASC homepage to view the days/times each session is available. TIPS FOR FACULTY: Familiarize yourself with the group session calendar on the ASC homepage. Recommend group sessions to students who have a specific skill they need to practice, so they can receive feedback while they practice. • For example, recommend the paraphrasing group session for a student who still struggles with paraphrasing after you have highlighted it as an area to improve in a paper. TIPS FOR STUDENTS: Come to the Academic Success Center early and often. Group sessions are a great way to increase skills such as introductions/thesis statements, paraphrasing, and using SPSS with other students and a coach. • Group sessions are a good first step if you know you have areas to improve with writing or statistics, but you are not sure what skills you need help with the most. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Here's an organization our leadership students should consider joining: The International Leadership Association (ILA) is a great organization for those who practice, study or teach leadership. ILA is a global membership association representing more than 70 countries. ILA is also a great way to network and offers student membership at a discount: www.ila-net.org

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